CAIRO: The People s Assembly (PA) announced its decision not to revoke the parliamentary membership of independent MP Talaat El Sadat, nephew of former President Anwar El Sadat, but to suspend him for 10 sessions, said Mohamed Esmat El Sadat, Talaat's brother and former MP. Esmat El Sadat told The Daily Star Egypt that the PA's decision was final. Talaat El Sadat was found guilty of defaming the Egyptian military forces in media statements where he accused the military of conspiring against his uncle, implicating it in Sadat's 1981 assassination. In September 2006 Talaat El Sadat was sentenced by a military tribunal to one year in prison and was made to pay a financial fine of LE 200. He is currently serving the jail sentence and is expected to be released on August 1. But the PA's ethics committee, charged with issuing verdicts in legal cases involving MPs, decided to suspend Talaat El Sadat from the first 10 PA sessions following his release. The standard procedure in similar offences could entail issuance of a warning, suspension for a certain period of time or dismissal from the PA. Talaat El Sadat was punished for the crime the PA had accused him of by serving a year in jail and that should have been enough, Esmat El Sadat said. However parliament decided to extend the punishment and suspend Talaat from attending 10 sessions, which I find unnecessary, Esmat El Sadat added. Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, MP and secretary general of El-Wafd party told The Daily Star Egypt in a previous interview that he believes that the sentence meted out to Talaat El Sadat was legally correct. Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, a PA member affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP), agreed. He told The Daily Star Egypt that the PA's ethics committee verdict on was fair and objective. On a related note, Esmat El Sadat's PA membership was recently revoked after allegations of bankruptcy marred his reputation. The higher administrative court recently approved his appeal against the PA s decision to expel him.
